Ford Sells Hertz

Ford announced Monday that it will sell the Hertz car rental business to a private equity group for $5.6 billion in cash. Including debt, the deal is valued at about $15 billion.
Ford's move is seen as an effort to strengthen its weakened balance sheet, invest in new product development and deal with rising health care costs.

Hertz is the world's largest car rental business, with 2004 revenue of $6.7 billion.